Cabin Fever
by Hodgeheg
Summary: Five year olds get cabin fever. Ninja get cabin fever. 5 year old genin Kakashi doesn't stand a chance...


**A/N: I don't own Naruto.**

Shinobi are, by definition, active creatures who enjoy a wide variety of outdoor pursuits; running, training, fighting, jumping etc. When a shinobi becomes cooped up, however, then they get restless and are soon bouncing off the walls- literally, thanks to chakra control. For any civilian nearby, this sudden loss of… well… control is fairly alarming for them. For someone who has never even seen a shinobi before and then witnesses this unusual sight are either scarred for life, (again potentially literally) or deeply afraid.

Kakashi was 5 when he first became a genin. Most people know that five year olds tend to have absolutely no immunity to cabin fever, and even though as a genin Kakashi had a (larger than normal) amount of self-control, there was still no denying the fact that he was still just a five year old. Minato first found out that a young kid needs to be exercised when they were cooped up inside for several days owing to the road back to Konoha being flooded. The very one they were supposed to be travelling on the way back from their mission in the Land of Waves. Minato eyed the small silver haired ninja as he threw his kunai at the painted target drawn onto the wall. As expected, it hit bull's eye. Kakashi stood up and tugged it out the wall and then returned to where he was sitting and tossed it again. Just as Rin happened to be walking past.

"Kakashi! Watch out where you're throwing that thing!" Kakashi scowled at her, before picking up the fallen kunai. Minato sighed.

"Kakashi, come on. Let's go for a walk, okay?" Kakashi hastily stood up and dusted off his trousers, stowing the kunai back in his pouch.

"Okay." The two of them grabbed cloaks and left, pulling up the hoods as they did so. Rin sighed happily at the sudden peace and quiet, before pulling out a scroll. Obito looked up from his and grinned.

"Finally. He was driving me insane." Rin made a small noise of agreement, and they both settled back down to their various activities.

*0*0*0*

Kakashi walked sedately next to Minato, but the older jounin could see the amount of restraint that the younger child was having to use in order not to start running off. They walked companionably through a nearby forest, until the came to a small clearing.

"Would you like to do some more training?" Kakashi's eyes lit up and he nodded once. "Okay then. Let's spar." The two of them stood at opposite ends of the clearing, falling into their natural fighting stances. Minato put up his hand, dropped it, and the fight began.

After a while, the two of them were sitting on a tree branch, listening to the rain. It was peaceful, and Kakashi's eyes were starting to droop. Minato looked down at the young boy.

"Better?" The genin nodded. "Alright. C'mon, let's get back to the other two." They jumped down from the trees, and started walking back to the inn. There was a rustle in the undergrowth from slightly behind them, and Minato flung out his arm to stop Kakashi. He turned slightly, before pushing the silver haired boy away as a kunai flew through the air where his head had been seconds earlier. Minato pulled out his own kunai, and darted towards where the weapon had originated from. There was a brief battle between him and the enemy nin, before he returned (triumphant) to where Kakashi was standing.

Or had been standing at any rate.

"Shit." Minato darted up to about half way up the tree, scanning the surrounding area. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be able to have a Hyugga with him right now…

As his eyes swept towards the river, he caught sight of a tuft of silver. Cautiously making his way towards it, he discovered it belonged to Kakashi. Or to be more precise, it was Kakashi. Minato dropped down from the tree and stood on the water. The genin wheeled round, kunai in hand, but relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Oh. Hello sensei. All done?"

"Yep. Let's go back." Minato walked towards the bank, and noticed that the cloak Kakashi was wearing was sopping wet, as was the rest of his body.

"Ne, Kakashi, did you fall in the river?" Kakashi looked down, scuffing his foot sheepishly. There was a pause, before he nodded his head. Minato sighed. "Come on then. We better hurry, we need to get you dry." The jumped up into the trees and quickly tree hoped to the inn. When they entered the rooms they were staying in, Obito and Rin looked up.

"Hey, sensei! How was your… er… walk?" Rin asked, her eyebrow rising as she took in the bedraggled Kakashi.

"Oh, it was a normal walk. We had a bit of a spar, but it was raining pretty heavily." Rin nodded absently and went back to her scroll. Kakashi slipped into his room where he proceeded to peel off his soaking clothes and replace them with clean, dry ones. He folded them up neatly and put them back inside his backpack, before joining the others who were getting ready for dinner.

The meal was quieter than normal; Obito was baiting Kakashi as usual, but the latter ignored him and concentrated on his meal, his eyes drooping. When he was finished, he excused himself and went to his bed. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the strange buzzing, but it wasn't working. He punched his pillow several times, trying to mould it into a comfortable shape, but every time he put his head on it something just wasn't quite right. Eventually he just curled up beneath the covers and fell asleep. Obito came in a while later, and all that could be seen was a small lump in the middle of the covers rising and falling subtly. His eyes roamed from the bed to the neatly folded clothing in front of the younger five year old's backpack. Obito strode over to his own bed and dropped his clothing to the floor- despite being older, he was much more messy than Kakashi was. After getting into his nightclothes, Obito slid into his own bed and promptly fell asleep.

*0*0*0*

An owl hooted softly outside. Kakashi woke up slightly, shifting under the blanket and not opening his eyes. It was hot, very hot, and Kakashi kicked off his blanket in protest. His head was throbbing whenever he moved it and he lifted his hands to cradle it, as if it was broken and he was holding the pieces together. He pressed harder and it relieved the pain slightly. Kakashi buried his face into the pillow, squirming around to find the coolest spot. As soon as he found it he burrowed into it, his limbs trembling. He fell asleep like that, and was still in the same position when Obito woke up several hours later. He looked across at the silver haired genin and scooted over to him when he saw that Kakashi was a lot paler than usual.

"Kakashi? Are you alright?" He tried shaking the boy, but withdrew his hand sharply when he felt the high temperature of the skin. Obito quickly stood up and ran out to find Minato and Rin sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Hello Obito. Is Kakashi still in there? The rain's stopped so we should be able to get going later on today, once the road has cleared a little," said Minato as he took a bite of toast.

"Um, Minato-sensei, I don't think Kakashi is very well." Minato turned to look at the boy, putting down his toast.

"Why, what's wrong with him?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," came a croaky voice from the doorway. Rin, Minato and Obito all turned to look at Kakashi who was leaning his head against the wooden doorway. Rin was the first to move as she quickly walked to where Kakashi was, leaning down and peering at his face. She placed a hand on his forehead and yanked it back with a quiet hiss.

"Kakashi, you are not fine. Back to bed, now." Kakashi folded his arms stubbornly, refusing to move. "You have such a high temperature I could fry an egg on your face! Come on, you have to go back to bed." Kakashi shook his head, and the movement jarred his headache further. He winced, but determinedly walked into the room and took a slice of toast. The other three exchanged glances before sitting down and finishing (although in Obito's case, starting) breakfast silently. The rest of the morning passed slowly, with many worried glances thrown Kakashi's way, but to his credit Kakashi didn't complain once, only refusing to stay in bed. Eventually enough water and debris had been cleared from the road so that the four of them could go back to the village. Kakashi swung his backpack over his shoulder, stood shakily to his feet, and marched out of the inn leaving the others to follow after him. Once they got onto the main road, the four shinobi jumped up into the trees and darted towards the village. As they got further into the journey, Kakashi began to feel tired, his limbs shaking and his head pounding. There was also a strange prickly sensation coming from his throat and a strange ringing in his ears. He fell back, the others speeding on ahead. Kakashi struggled to keep up with them and to his chagrin he felt his eyes begin to tear up. Everything turned blurry and Kakashi came to a stop. Through the ringing in his ears he heard voices but everything was too blurry, he couldn't see properly, he just wanted to sleep…

Minato looked back over his shoulder and became alarmed when he couldn't see Kakashi. He sprinted back a bit and found Kakashi leaning against a tree trunk and with tears in his eyes. He was even more pale, and concern tore through Minato. Not for the first time the jounin wondered whether Kakashi was truly ready to become a genin.

"Kakashi? Are you alright? Kakashi!" The boy's hand had slipped and Kakashi had begun to sway ominously. Just as he was about to fall, Minato scooped the boy up and placed him carefully on his back piggy-back style, before joining the others. Rin and Obito took one look at the boy on his back before the three of them sprinted as fast as they could back to the village. Minato left Rin and Obito at the gates before going straight to the hospital. The nurse on the front desk looked up, and gave a small sigh when she realised that it was a ninja. She hated dealing with ninja- the mostly refused to turn up at the hospital unless one of their limbs was about to come off and even then they hated to be kept overnight. And those sort of injuries generally meant several days in the hospital. Which meant that the ninja in question tended to get restless, and as previously mentioned restless ninja are never fun.

"What can I do for you?"

"Um, well, my student's ill," Minato said as he carefully removed Kakashi from his back. The nurse's expression softened slightly as she took in the small boy, but her eyes narrowed instantly once she saw how ill he was.

"Put him on that bed over there, a doctor will be over immediately." Minato nodded and gently placed the silver haired child on the gurney. A five minute wait later, a doctor hurried up to him. He took one look at the boy before wheeling him off. Minato followed him and was about to enter the ward when he was stopped by a nurse.

"Have you been in contact with the boy in the last twenty four hours?" Minato looked at the man.

"Yes."

"Have you been inoculated against the flu this year?"

"Um…"

"When was your last medical check?"

"Ten months ago."

"Come with me." The nurse trotted off to a small room and Minato had no choice but to follow him. His heart dropped when he saw the nurse prepare a large needle. Minato did not like needles. They reminded him too much of a senbon.

"If you could just lift up your sleeve," instructed the nurse. Minato sub-consciously leaned away from the man.

"Is there any way that it doesn't have to be a needle?"

"No. Now lift up your sleeve." Sighing with resignation Minato reluctantly rolled up his sleeve. He hated hospitals. The nurse sighed imperceptibly as well. Most ninja he had inoculated were like this regarding needles. He hated treating ninja.

Kakashi woke up slowly, his eyes squinting as they adjusted to the light. Eventually they managed to open fully, and he took in his surroundings. He appeared to be in the hospital, with something sticking into his arm. His mask had been removed, and as soon as he realised this Kakashi yanked his blanket up over his mouth. To his relief, he discovered that his headache had diminished. He heard the slight scratching of a brush on a scroll and turning his head slightly he saw Minato writing on a scroll with his brush.

"'Ello Sensei," he croaked. Said sensei looked up and put down his brush.

"Hello Kakashi. Are you feeling better?" There was a nod. The door to his room slid open and Rin and Obito slid in.

"Kakashi! You're awake! I _told _you that you were ill, but did you listen? No!" Rin ranted on and Kakashi bowed his head down fiddling with the edge of his blanket.

"Sorry, Rin." Kakashi muttered when she paused for breath. Her angry expression slid off her face and she poured a cup of water for him. Kakashi took it gratefully and drank it down. He put the empty cup on the bedside cabinet and stretched his legs. He was feeling a bit restless… almost as if he had cabin fever.

**This idea came from watching my younger brother irritate everyone due to cabin fever. And the fact that a five year old Kakashi is so cute! XD**

**I reckon that shinobi probably would be wary of needles. I mean, they spend most of their time dodging sharp pointy objects, I don't think that they're very likely to be all that thrilled with sitting still and letting someone stick a needle into them. And it also sounds like Obito and I share the same slovenly habits… talking of which, I really need to tidy my room. :P**

**Please Review! ;)**


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